You often see shops advertising a “bare bones” brake job price just to get customers in the door. Barker Muffler and Brake of Portland, OR has a better idea, tell the customer truth about why they will never attempt to do a cheap “pad slap” brake job.

From Barker’s website:

“A person is as likely to receive a good, high quality brake job for $89.00 as he is likely to get a good quality meal for 89 cents. It is possible that if all that is needed in the brake job are new pads, or all that you want in the restaurant is a quick snack, then the final price and the advertised price may be the same, but in most cases, the customer usually spends more money.”

 

The most powerful marketing tool is not gimmicks or a “get you in the door” price, it is the truth. Honest conversation that focuses in on the customers real needs far outweighs the need for a bargain.

Barker lists the five reasons why they can’t and wont do cheap brake jobs:

We don’t do $89.00 brake jobs for the following reasons;

1. We don’t want the comebacks and customer complaints associated with using inferior materials and inexperienced labor.
2. We don’t want the increased chance of legal liability connected with the use of inferior materials and inexperienced labor.
3. We don’t want to have to use high pressure sales techniques to up sell a job so we can make a profit.
4. Right now, we enjoy an “A” rating on ANGIE’S LIST, (the highest rating they give out). Using “cheap parts” would no doubt cause unhappy customer to give us a bad rating, and we don’t want that. Our reputation is all we have and we don’t want it destroyed.
5. Lastly, we want happy customers, because happy customers come back. The bitterness of poor quality lasts much longer than the sweetness of a low price.

Thank you to Barker’s for being honest about safety!